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Rebels without a get-out clause. Why you shouldn’t expect many declared Leave opponents of the deal to back down

Rebels without a get-out clause. Why you shouldn’t expect many declared Leave opponents of the deal to back down

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(Constituencies coded A had a Leave vote of over 60%, those coded B had a Leave vote of over 50%, those coded C had a Leave vote over 40% and those coded D had a Leave vote of less than 40%. ) Everyone loves talking about the rebel MPs who have put Theresa May in double trouble.  There are numerous lists floating around.  Some list all the MPs who have expressed reservations about Chequers or the deal.  Some seek to look…

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The Italian Job – Part Two: Nessun Dorma – sleepless nights in Brussels

The Italian Job – Part Two: Nessun Dorma – sleepless nights in Brussels

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For most of the modern era Italy has been treated as something of a lightweight in world affairs despite being one of the world’s largest economies. This has often been on the back of weak and unpredictable government which has stopped Italy taking a wider role. Within the European Union itself Italy has been treated as something inconsequential despite being a founder member. Northern Europeans and especially German politicians have been openly scathing about the country. More recently Emmanuel Macron…

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The Italian Job – Part One: 5 Star and the Lega blow the bloody doors off

The Italian Job – Part One: 5 Star and the Lega blow the bloody doors off

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This is an article about Italian politics. I have had to stop typing just to double check what I’ve written. Since when has Italian politics been interesting? Italian politicians of course – Berlusconi, bunga bunga, strange men from the Mezzogiorno who sleep with horses heads, big backhanders, ladies with big backsides, Parliamentary punch ups – Italian politicians have fascinated us. But that was entertainment not real politics.  For most of us modern Italian politics has been a distant background noise of…

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Why the Brexit divisions are here to stay

Why the Brexit divisions are here to stay

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When you stop and think about it, voting is a very low information form of communication. We get nothing about the certainty of the voter’s view, nothing about the enthusiasm of the voter, nothing about the considerations that led the voter to that view. All we get is a single recorded choice. As a result, every so often a political truth is so stark staring obvious, so central to British politics, that it is almost entirely missed. We are at…

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The economics of LICE. How do we deal with parasite taxation ?

The economics of LICE. How do we deal with parasite taxation ?

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LICE – Luxembourg, Ireland, Channel Isles, Estonia – we could add others and play alphabet soup, but the basic premise is the same small countries which live well by diverting the tax revenues of their larger neighbours. These are parasites not in the derogatory sense but in the biological sense of entities which live off others. This is not new, tax havens have been around for centuries but largely as an irritant to those next door. However in the last two decades things…

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NEW PB / Polling Matters podcast: What LAB and CON party members think about Brexit?

NEW PB / Polling Matters podcast: What LAB and CON party members think about Brexit?

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On this week’s podcast, Keiran Pedley is joined by Professor Tim Bale of Queen Mary University to discuss his research on Labour and Conservative Party members – who they are, what they think about Brexit and what this means for the future of British politics. Listen to the episode below: Follow this week’s guests: Follow @KeiranPedley Follow @ProfTimBale Tweet

How the EU has bungled Brexit

How the EU has bungled Brexit

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As Britain is going through the final stages of a psychiatric breakdown over Brexit, not much attention is being given to our surroundings. Time to take some slow shallow breaths and look around. How does the world look like from the EU? The EU looks pretty ropey just now. At every level it is enervated. Its Commission is serving out its final months, a lame duck administration. The European Parliament is divided and set to get more so. The national governments are just as weak. Germany…

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No Leader of the Opposition has rated even nearly as badly as Corbyn and become Prime Minister. An analysis into the satisfaction ratings of leaders of the opposition

No Leader of the Opposition has rated even nearly as badly as Corbyn and become Prime Minister. An analysis into the satisfaction ratings of leaders of the opposition

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In the final piece of three, Corporeal looks at the satisfaction ratings of Leaders of the Opposition The Leader of Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition is a position of great responsibility and impotence. It is traditionally the delicate art of attention grabbing, agenda setting, holding the government to account, and providing an inspiring alternative vision for government on the major issues of the day. Or if all that fails (unkind commentators might suggest that not all the holders of the…

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